5 ms·

What an utterly bizarre hobby.

by Simon_says 9y ago

wingerlang 9y ago
Playing a game?
- erikb 9y ago
  Interesting thought. Yes, to some degree if you play a 150 different games for 10 hours each it actually produces the same amount of community value (zero) and may relax you just as much.
  - wingerlang 9y ago
    Not sure what you mean here. The guy I replied to said it was a strange hobby. But the article is just about some guy who played a game. And gaming is not a strange hobby at all.
    - erikb 9y ago
      The article is about a guy who played a ridiculous amount of a game that most people wouldn't. And that is what the commenter (not me) considered a weird hobby. Playing the same game over and over. And I thought that was quite simple to see and your reply was a nifty indication that there is not much of a difference between playing 10k hours of one repetitive game or playing 10 hours in 1k different games. I liked that thought.
    - nkrisc 9y ago
      Do you not see a difference between how this guy is playing the game and how most people play games? This is veering into 'strange hobby' territory, that's all. Yes if you want to be reductionist and just call this 'playing a game' then no, 'playing a game' isn't a strange hobby. But that's like calling BASE jumping, 'just jumping in the air.'
      - simias 9y ago
        Look at the Guinness World Records book, finding strange hobbies to master is a very common hobby.
      - wingerlang 9y ago
        But he isn't playing it any different. It says in the articled that it took 300 to 400 hours over 4 years and that he played it when he had some minutes to spare, like on a bus or the toilet. That's how most casual games are played. The only notable here is that the game is seemingly repetitive, but even there each level is different and requires a new way to hit the ball. People have played Counter Strike on de_dust2 (a specific map) for almost two decades as this point. They play the same map over and over again, is it repetitive? Maybe, but each time there are new people so it makes it a new challenge each time. People have played solitaire for their whole lives, again the dynamic comes on each "level" (i.e. new shuffle). I am 100% sure that the play time of these people dwarfs this guys play time many many many times over.
        nkrisc 9y ago
        Yet the article states he was only the second person to ever "beat" it. Clearly most people are not nearly as dedicated to beating this game. That is what makes it a strange hobby.
        wingerlang 9y ago
        Probably because it is a pretty unknown and niche game (?) that won't grab most peoples attention. I don't think that makes the hobby (gaming) strange though. I wouldn't play most games for minutes, yet people spend years in them.
sbergot 9y ago
https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-vii-player-hits-level-99-in-the-first-rea-1794171766 https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-vii-player-hits-level-99-in...
- nsebban 9y ago
  The Final Fantasy series has spawned a lot of "stories" like this one over the last 30 years. A notable one being related to the MMO Final Fantasy XI, with the "Maat's cap" item being created by Square Enix to praise a player who achieved the maximal level on every job available in the game. Which back then needed hundreds of days of slow and frustrating grind.
- westmeal 9y ago
  I've heard of grinding but this is something else entirely.
- simias 9y ago
  One detail in the video that amused me: https://youtu.be/APqQo8r-_UQ?t=55m17s https://youtu.be/APqQo8r-_UQ?t=55m17s He says he saves multiple times (he mentions that he usually does it "at least three times") which I thought would mean that he uses multiple different saves but instead he seems to only have one single save that he overwrites multiple times. So in the end he just increases the wear of the underlying flash and has no backup. Not to mention that it increases the change of having a save being interrupted in case of power failure. That's bold. Frankly the fact that he doesn't appear to have even a single backup save on what appears to be an otherwise empty memory card makes me question the authenticity of that whole ordeal. On the other hand I guess I shouldn't presume to understand the mindset of somebody who's willing to go through something like this.
dang 9y ago
Please don't post unsubstantive comments here.

What an utterly bizarre hobby.

wingerlang 9y ago

Playing a game?

erikb 9y ago
Interesting thought. Yes, to some degree if you play a 150 different games for 10 hours each it actually produces the same amount of community value (zero) and may relax you just as much.
- wingerlang 9y ago
  Not sure what you mean here. The guy I replied to said it was a strange hobby. But the article is just about some guy who played a game. And gaming is not a strange hobby at all.
  - erikb 9y ago
    The article is about a guy who played a ridiculous amount of a game that most people wouldn't. And that is what the commenter (not me) considered a weird hobby. Playing the same game over and over. And I thought that was quite simple to see and your reply was a nifty indication that there is not much of a difference between playing 10k hours of one repetitive game or playing 10 hours in 1k different games. I liked that thought.
  - nkrisc 9y ago
    Do you not see a difference between how this guy is playing the game and how most people play games? This is veering into 'strange hobby' territory, that's all. Yes if you want to be reductionist and just call this 'playing a game' then no, 'playing a game' isn't a strange hobby. But that's like calling BASE jumping, 'just jumping in the air.'
    - simias 9y ago
      Look at the Guinness World Records book, finding strange hobbies to master is a very common hobby.
    - wingerlang 9y ago
      But he isn't playing it any different. It says in the articled that it took 300 to 400 hours over 4 years and that he played it when he had some minutes to spare, like on a bus or the toilet. That's how most casual games are played. The only notable here is that the game is seemingly repetitive, but even there each level is different and requires a new way to hit the ball. People have played Counter Strike on de_dust2 (a specific map) for almost two decades as this point. They play the same map over and over again, is it repetitive? Maybe, but each time there are new people so it makes it a new challenge each time. People have played solitaire for their whole lives, again the dynamic comes on each "level" (i.e. new shuffle). I am 100% sure that the play time of these people dwarfs this guys play time many many many times over.
      - nkrisc 9y ago
        Yet the article states he was only the second person to ever "beat" it. Clearly most people are not nearly as dedicated to beating this game. That is what makes it a strange hobby.
        wingerlang 9y ago
        Probably because it is a pretty unknown and niche game (?) that won't grab most peoples attention. I don't think that makes the hobby (gaming) strange though. I wouldn't play most games for minutes, yet people spend years in them.

sbergot 9y ago

https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-vii-player-hits-level-99-in-the-first-rea-1794171766 https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-vii-player-hits-level-99-in...

nsebban 9y ago
The Final Fantasy series has spawned a lot of "stories" like this one over the last 30 years. A notable one being related to the MMO Final Fantasy XI, with the "Maat's cap" item being created by Square Enix to praise a player who achieved the maximal level on every job available in the game. Which back then needed hundreds of days of slow and frustrating grind.
westmeal 9y ago
I've heard of grinding but this is something else entirely.
simias 9y ago
One detail in the video that amused me: https://youtu.be/APqQo8r-_UQ?t=55m17s https://youtu.be/APqQo8r-_UQ?t=55m17s He says he saves multiple times (he mentions that he usually does it "at least three times") which I thought would mean that he uses multiple different saves but instead he seems to only have one single save that he overwrites multiple times. So in the end he just increases the wear of the underlying flash and has no backup. Not to mention that it increases the change of having a save being interrupted in case of power failure. That's bold. Frankly the fact that he doesn't appear to have even a single backup save on what appears to be an otherwise empty memory card makes me question the authenticity of that whole ordeal. On the other hand I guess I shouldn't presume to understand the mindset of somebody who's willing to go through something like this.

dang 9y ago

Please don't post unsubstantive comments here.